Sam Maloof, Woodworker 1916-2009

It is rare in this world that someone can be so dramatically affected by an individual whom they've never had the priviledge to meet. But such was the case with my life and the inspiration that Mr. Sam Maloof, one of America's---one of the world's--greatest woodworkers, brought to it.

I became aware of Mr. Maloof a couple of years ago from watching a documentary on PBS called Craft In America. At the time, we had just started handmaking our own art clay beads and designing our own jewelry. Being able to gain an insight as to how other artists approached their craft was very appealing to me. I was captivated by the three episode series.

The three episodes that composed the series, entitled Memory, Landscape, and Community, spotlighted a number of artists and craftsmen--their works, their crafting process, and their own personal inspirations. Several of the individuals in particular, and most notably Mr. Maloof, had a profound impact on me.

Even though we worked in different mediums, his approach towards his work and the philosophy behind the relationships that he built with his clients resonated deep within my soul. He became an immediate inspiration to me.

After the Craft In America series aired, I set out to discover more about Mr. Maloof. As a result, I came across his foundation--the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation, several books that had been written about him, and another video called "Maloof", which I immediately purchased.

Because it was entirely about him, this video, moreso than the Craft In America documentary, offered a much deeper insight into Mr. Maloof, his work, and his approach to life.

Inspired by Mr. Maloof, we decided to design two color patterns in recognition of him. We called the first one 'Woodlands'. The second was called 'Walnut House'. It was jointly inspired by the magnificient house/compound that he constructed to publicly display his world-class art collection and the fact that walnut was his favorite wood.

'Woodlands' color pattern bracelet and 'Walnut House' color pattern bracelet.
Both patterns were inspired by Sam Maloof.

I emailed Mr. Maloof earlier this year to let him know what an inspiration he was to me and asked him if he would be kind enough to send me a simple piece of wood scrap from his shop. A few weeks later, much to my surprise, I received a piece autographed by him. I placed it in our studio above my workbench for continued inspiration. It is one of my most treasured possessions along with a poster that he also autographed for me.



Sam Maloof was 93 years old.

The L.A. Times posted a very nice tribute to Mr. Maloof.

New Color Patterns Introduced!

Every once in a while, inspiration strikes and we find ourselves just having to get into the studio to see what a new color pattern will look like. Such was the case with these three.

Fusion, composed of red pearl and blue pearl, just seemed like an appropriate name for this color pattern. It reminds us of heat and cold mixed together and captured in a frenzied, chaotic, yet beautiful moment.

Dusk, as the name implies, was inspired by a beautiful evening sky, in a moment right before the day surrendered its light and the night sky came alive. It is composed of black, pearl blue, and dusty rose.

After what seemed like a long and brutal Winter, we are very ready to welcome the Summer season. When we think of Summer, with its blue skies, bright, burning yellow sun, and various hues of green grass, it conjures up memories of lazy afternoons, swimming, and ice cold lemonade. We tried to capture that feeling in this, our newest seasonal color pattern, Summer Days.

Introducing Fusion, Dusk, and Summer Days, our newest seasonal collection color pattern.

Success at the 'Fest!!!

Up to this point, most of our sales have come through our website or through the shops in Berea and Lexington that sell our pieces. Last year, our only face-to-face, direct-to-the-public sales venue was Downtown Lexington Corporation's Artist's Market. Even though we only set up a few Saturdays (and did fairly well on those Saturdays), we learned quite a bit about presentation and merchandising. It also gave us the opportunity to interact with clients and potential clients, some of which have since become very good friends, and get immediate feedback about our work.

A year has gone by now--we've refined our art bead and jewelry making process and have added several new collections to our work, including art glass.

This year, our first show was the Downtown Lexington Corporation's Mayfest. Based on our experience with last year's Artists' Market, we set some pretty lofty goals for ourselves, based especially on how many attendees we heard that Mayfest drew in the past. One would think that taking place during the same weekend that Mother's Day falls would hurt attendance. But not with Mayfest. The attendance was overwhelming--even recordbreaking. Response to our work was equally overwhelming--so much so that by the event's second day, we started to wonder if we'd made enough pieces. We easily surpassed our own expectations.

It's still difficult to describe the feeling of pride and accomplishment that we get when our handmade art bead and art glass jewelry pieces are complimented on and purchased by the general public. It's humbling when a customer pays their hard-earned money for our jewelry pieces--especially in today's economy.

Not only did we have two great days and meet a wonderful bunch of new friends and clients, but, to make things better, as a result of being there, we were also invited to be in two other upcoming shows--The Pig Day Festival on June 20th at Lexington's Jacobson Park and the Winchester Lions Club's Octoberfest on October 2nd and 3rd.

The very best part though was being able to share the entire experience with Mackenzie and Matthew. They loved the pony rides! Mackenzie was on Beetlejuice and Matthew was on Snowball. A great, great day! Can't wait to come back next year!

By the way, Downtown Lexington's 2009 Artist's Market is coming up and we'll be there.

Location: The Lexington Financial Center (the big blue building!) on Main Street across from Cheapside Park.
Dates and Hours: Every Saturday, June 6 - August 29, 2009, 8am to 2pm. (Exception: There will be no Artists Market on Saturday, July 4)

A Rose By Any Other Name.....

For a couple of different reasons, not the least of them being that we've expanded more into art glass work now, we've decided to change our name to more accurately reflect our work. Introducing...Uniquitibles! Art Jewelry and Designs--Unique and Collectible Handmade Art Bead Jewelry and Art Glass in Brilliant Coloration.

With all of the name changing, we are still proud to have been featured in the June 2009 issue of Polymer Cafe Magazine. Our "Inferno" color pattern jewelry set and our "Vintage Limoges" color pattern jewelry set were both highlighted.

With the name change behind us, we're getting back to business...

Our newest color pattern to be introduced for our "Seasonals" Collection is 'Summer Days'. We love the colors---blue, yellow, and white. Reminds us of a day at a cottage beach house. We'll post a picture of our first item in this color pattern soon.

Lastly, we're also going to be selling our art clay jewelry at Damselfly Studio in Midway, KY and we've been accepted to display our work at Mayfest--our first juried acceptance! We'll be there this coming weekend.